


the farthest land

by nightquills



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Alternate Universe - Shadow of the Colossus Fusion, Angst, M/M, This is a really bad place for Andrew to have a fear of heights
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-18
Updated: 2020-04-18
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:55:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 691
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23713996
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nightquills/pseuds/nightquills
Summary: Neil is dead. Neil is dead, and Andrew has heard of a land at the ends of the world—one where, if you should wish it, you can bring back the souls of the dead. He doesn’t care that this land is a forbidden one, and he doesn’t care that the quest given to him there is a hopeless one. He will not fail.
Relationships: Neil Josten/Andrew Minyard
Comments: 3
Kudos: 11





	the farthest land

**Author's Note:**

> Title from the corresponding track on the Shadow of the Colossus OST. 
> 
> Shadow of the Colossus is probably my favorite video game, and AFTG is definitely one of my favorite series, so it was inevitable that I'd end up mashing them together in some way. The inevitability made itself known today on twitter, and I made /myself/ sad with it lmao

“This fucking day, Abram,” Andrew says, looking at the wall in front of him. First there had been the bridge to cross into this land, standing precariously on its spindly legs high above the plains. No railings, of course, and so narrow that even when riding in the middle Andrew had feared that one wrong step of his horse would send them tumbling over the edge. That had been only the start of his day, and by far the least dangerous and least interesting part of it.

He shakes his head. He tells himself that it is a fool’s hope that he will even survive to have use of the bridge again. To use the idiom in its most literal sense, he will cross that bridge if he gets to it. 

He brings his mind back to the present and casts an evaluating look at the wall before him. There’s moss that he could conceivably grasp to scale it, but he doesn’t trust it. A further look at his surroundings tells him that there is no other option, however, so Andrew tangles his fingers in it and cautiously lifts his feet from the ground to see if it will hold his weight. 

It does. 

He sighs, firmly commands himself to get over the fear making his hands tense, and begins the climb. The stupid sword on his hip thumps against the wall with each of his movements, reminding Andrew of his idiocy with every reach of his arms. He clumsily pulls himself onto solid ground again as he reaches the top, and denies to himself that the breath that he lets out is one of relief. 

When he stands and looks over the edge, the ground already seems too far away. His horse is looking up at him, and Andrew feels the judgement in the dumb thing’s eyes. “Believe me, I do not know why I’m doing this either,” he says down to her, knowing even as it crosses his lips that it is a lie. The reason is back in the temple. The reason is laid out on the altar there, stiff and cold with unseeing blue eyes.

Andrew turns and continues his ascent. He can see more easily now that there is a plateau above him where the cliff has temporarily paused its upward climb to the cloudy sky. By the time he reaches it, he is panting in exertion. 

Neil was always the more agile one of them—the one who could climb anything without a moment’s hesitation and still have the energy to look down at Andrew from his perch with that stupid, cheeky quirk of his lips. He finds his eyes drawn involuntarily to where the temple towers in the distance. 

Andrew shakes his head again, and pulls the sword from its scabbard. He holds it to the sun and turns to focus the light that it exudes until it becomes a single stream instead of multiple fractured ones, gritting his teeth against the high pitched noise that the sword emits. When it has told him what direction to go, he walks into the shadows cast by the walls of the cliff that continue to climb around him. 

He makes it only a few steps when he is stopped by the ground shaking beneath his feet. It is then that he sees it—a giant, a mass of stone and fur with a club in its hand, walking towards him. Its glowing blue eyes are not turned in his direction, which means that it does not seem to have noticed him yet. He is thankful for this because his feet are rooted in place, and he can feel every beat of his heart where it is suddenly, wildly, thundering against his ribs. 

This is one of the beings Andrew has been sent to kill? One man with a sword in his hand, a bow on his back, and a few knives hidden against his skin, against this? He does not think that fifty men could kill it. 

He has no choice. He will not fail. 

“This fucking day, Abram,” Andrew says. He steps toward the giant.

**Author's Note:**

> Still can't believe I got this done within the timespan of a couple hours! Anyone else that knows my writing habits is probably in a similar state of disbelief.
> 
> Anyways, thank you for reading! Please let me know if this is something that y'all are interested in seeing more of, or if it's something where my niche interests have finally gotten a little too niche hahaha
> 
> As always, please feel free to come and talk to me on [tumblr](http://nightquills.tumblr.com/) or [twitter](https://twitter.com/nightquills)!


End file.
